


Week in the Bees

by lumberwoof



Series: elderbees au [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Mentions of Character Death in Chapter 2, Minor Spoilers for Volume 7, also bumblebabies, like extremely minor, yes the title is a (very) bad play on ''weak in the knees''
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21755287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumberwoof/pseuds/lumberwoof
Summary: Fics written (and then heavily procrastinated on) for Bumbleby Week 2019.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long
Series: elderbees au [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736008
Comments: 8
Kudos: 70





	1. Day 1: "Atlas Ball"

**Author's Note:**

> this has been sitting in my drafts since december and I'm basically just posting them all now before ao3 deletes the drafts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team RWBY bumbles it way through a heist mission. More specifically, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang bumble their way through a heist mission while Blake does her best to keep the train on the tracks (figuratively).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title: "dance, dance, infiltration 2: atlas boogaloo"

"Best team building exercise ever," Ruby whispered, voice carrying through the communicators.

Blake assumed she was speaking to herself because they were supposed to be keeping silent with the channels open for this part of the mission. Team RWBY was infiltrating the mansion of a wealthy Atlesian businessman with questionable ties to the military and a former connection with one Dr. Arthur Watts. They were mainly there to find proof of the guy selling access to secure systems, but Blake also wanted to scour through his records for lists of Faunus rights abuses, too.

Walking silently through the access tunnels, there was only the soft din of the ballroom crowd coming through the channel from Weiss and Yang's end. Then, Blake heard Ruby start humming the Impossible Quest theme song.

Keeping her sighs internal, Blake pried a panel off the wall in the access tunnel, and deftly rewired the outdated security system. After that, all it took was extending a claw under the door latch to pop the lock, allowing Blake to slip inside easily. "I'm inside," she said.

Ruby's humming stopped at the sound of Blake's voice. The soft conversation from Weiss and Yang's end continued.

"I can't believe I had to be your plus one," Yang grumbled to Weiss, presumably from somewhere private.

There was no response from Weiss, but that was probably due to the half-distinct conversation coming through on her side.

"And then, with my years of combat training - and, of course, my trusty bardiche—"

"Is that Professor Port?" Ruby hissed, sounding alarmed.

If anyone other than Weiss was recognized, the mission could come to very disastrous halt, especially considering the team wasn't _supposed_ to be on a mission right now.

"A relative," Yang whispered. "He practically cornered Weiss as soon as he realized she was a Schnee. Didn't seem to recognize me, though. And he didn't seem to care about the rumours that she's been disowned or that she's fallen out of favour with the rich, or whatever fancy word Weiss used to describe herself."

"Persona non grata," Blake murmured, keeping her eyes on the wall of dormant security robots as she walked by them. She had already shut the security system off, but there was always the chance of a hidden fail safe or trip switch somewhere.

"So you're good, th—" Ruby cut herself off mid-sentence with a shriek so loud that the audio crackled and screeched before it came to an abrupt stop.

"I'm on it," Blake hissed, before Yang could say anything that might blow her cover. She could imagine Yang's distress right now, trying to play it cool in a crowded ballroom.

If anything happened to Ruby now, Blake would never forgive herself. _But wouldn't that be so fitting_ , her brain thought with a traitorous voice. _All the skills in the world, but you'll always be a let down, Blake._

_Shut up_ , she thought.

Ears perked and tension flooding every nerve in her body, Blake found the ceiling duct Ruby had been crawling through and followed it, listening for any sounds. A clunk and soft, familiar cursing sounded from one portion of the ceiling. Blake took Gambol out, carefully slicing through the thin sheet metal and dropping a yelping Ruby into her arms.

Flushed but looking otherwise uninjured, Ruby squirmed and blew the hair from her face. Looking sheepishly up at Blake, she pouted, "There was a spider."

Letting out a heavy sigh that morphed into a chuckle, Blake said, "I've made contact with our fearless leader. She's fine, just had a run-in with a creepy crawly."

There was an audible sigh of relief from Yang, and a less obvious one from Weiss, who seemed to be still trapped in the same conversation. Meanwhile, Ruby started squirming again, wriggling her way out of Blake's arms and back onto her feet. 

Dusting herself off, she muttered, "I'll show you a creepy crawly, that thing almost went up my nose…" Then she plucked her communicator from her ear and started inspecting it, fiddling with it until a sharp feedback screech lanced through everyone's ears.

It was so loud Blake dropped, sitting on her heels, ears flattened to her skull with her hands to her head.

"Hehe, sorry," Ruby said, smiling innocently as she tucked her communicator back in. "Can everyone hear me?"

"Not anymore," Blake grumbled, rubbing at her throbbing temples while Yang made a soft, affirmative noise on her end.

"We'll be at the rendezvous point soon," Blake said. "So you should probably make your exit soon."

"Ah, yes, I understand," Weiss said, with an intonation that suggested it was an acknowledgement as well as part of her mostly one-sided conversation.

Said one-sided conversation didn't seem interested in putting an end to his stories and tales, which could make it hard for Weiss to get away without attracting unwanted attention.

"You aren't going to be held up too long, right?" Ruby asked. "Like, is there a way you can get away from that conversation, fast?"

"Yep," Yang said, popping the word with a bit too much enthusiasm for what the situation should warrant. "Don't worry, I'm on it."

Blake suddenly felt exhausted, knowing that whatever Yang was planning was going to be ridiculous. She caught Ruby's eye and could see that Ruby was feeling the same. Blake put her hand over her face preemptively.

"Oh, Sir Port, this is—" Weiss was cut off by her own shriek.

Both Ruby and Blake rooted in spot.

"What is wrong with you!" Weiss howled furiously.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Yang said. "Here, let me help you."

"Help me! You've—!" Weiss cut off again, and then something changed in her voice. "Right, fine. I'm so sorry, Sir Port. I'll return once this mess has been… cleaned up."

Blake dragged her hand down and off her face, letting the momentary panic and flood of bad memories--Yang, a vast hall on fire, a scream that might've her own, so much red--drain away. Sucking in a breath through her teeth, Blake looked to Ruby, who mouthed, 'What did Yang just do?'

Blake shrugged and shook her head.

The sounds of the ballroom faded from Weiss and Yang's channels, and after the sound of a few doors opening and closing, Weiss hissed, "Yang, I am going to kill you!"

Opening a door on the side of the access tunnel, Blake beckoned Ruby to follow, the two silently listening to Weiss grumble at Yang as they made their way through a winding set of narrow hallways.

"How do you remember where we're going?" Ruby said, amazed by how Blake always knew which corner to take, never pausing to second-guess.

Blake shrugged. "I don't."

"What—" Ruby almost ran into Blake's back when she stopped just around the corner, in front of what appeared to be a dead end.

For a long beat, Ruby just stared at Blake, unsure what to make of the whole situation, then Blake grinned and pressed a hidden switch, revealing a room in the basement of the manor proper. "Just kidding."

Ruby crossed her arms and huffed, unamused by the teasing, right as Weiss and Yang walked into the room from the other end.

"I can't believe you, Yang!" Weiss fumed, a large red wine stain on her otherwise gorgeously blue dress.

"Hey," Yang shrugged. She was in a simple, black two-piece suit with a bow tie, a small splotch of red on the front of her white button-up. "You needed to get out of that conversation and I did that." After a beat where she undid her cuff links to roll up her sleeves, Yang added. "I still don't see why all of us couldn't come through the back entrance."

"Because there needs to be two people in the ballroom for phase five," Ruby reminded. "And they'll notice if you suddenly show up in the middle of the party without using the front door."

"It's true," Weiss nodded.

"Blake? Back me up here?"

"Ruby and Weiss are right, Yang," Blake said, grinning when her partner pouted cutely at her.

"Anyway," Yang said, after a moment, letting her eyes roll up and down Blake. "I gotta say, you're really rocking the catsuit look."

A steely, golden glare was sent her way, but Yang just raised in her hands in mock surrender. "Hey, I didn't come up with the term, I'm just using it. That you are also a cat faunus is unrelated to my statement."

Blake rolled her eyes but walked away with a grin, leading the group back into the access tunnels. 

"Okay, so this next part takes four people to complete," Ruby began. 

"Yes, you explained it already, back when we were planning the mission, and then when we revised the mission, and then when we finalized the mission, and then—" Yang looks at her scroll— "two hours ago, right before we left on said mission." 

"Great," Ruby said, with only a soft bite of sarcasm, poking her sister in the back of the ribs. "So we all know what to do, then."

Behind Ruby, at the back of the group, Weiss was busy sending messages on her scroll, her free hand clutching Ruby's cape so she wouldn't be separated from the group while her attention was elsewhere.

Taking a different path through the maze of hallways this time, Blake led everyone to a control room covered in screens and panels, with two very obvious switches on opposites ends of the room, far enough apart that one person couldn't press both at the same time.

Weiss let go of Ruby's cape and looked up from her scroll. "I've texted Winter, she's going to arrange replacement outfits for Yang and I. We'll pick them up from the side entrance once we're onto the next phase."

"Good call," Blake said. "Although."

"I know, I know, but what was I supposed to do? Text Yang and Ruby's uncle and expect him to know where to get suitable outfits for a high society ball in such a short time frame?"

"Hey…" Ruby protested weakly.

"As long as Winter doesn't catch wind of our secondary objectives, it'll be fine." Yang said. "Or, y'know, pretends that she hasn't caught wind of it."

"Right, well, now that that's settled, who's staying here?" Blake asked.

"Well, I'm going with you," Yang said to her partner. "So…"

Ruby pumped her fist. "Heck yeah, team combat skirts!"

She held her fist out and Weiss awkwardly gave her a fist bump and a smile. "Team combat skirts," she confirmed.

"Aw yeah," Ruby grinned. "We got this."

Blake made a soft noise of amusement and turned on her heel. "Alright, c'mon Yang."

"Right behind you."

"Please don't get lost," Weiss called after them.

"They won't get lost," Ruby voice faded from earshot and into the communicator. "Blake knows exactly where she's going."

"Of course, and your sister definitely isn't getting lost because she can't keep her eyes off—"

"We can still hear you," Yang cut in, cheeks red as she looked up from where she had been definitely, maybe, positively, absolutely, one hundred percent staring at Blake's ass.

"Leave Yang alone," Blake said, voice so quiet Yang could only hear it through the communicator, even though Blake was right in front of her. "She's allowed to enjoy the view if she wants."

Yang sputtered and reached forward, pinching Blake's hip.

Choking down a giggle, Blake put a few extra steps between her and Yang, shooting Yang a look over her shoulder.

Weiss groaned in exasperation. "Please. Stop. This is a serious mission and we cannot afford to mess it up."

Yang cleared her throat, calming herself down. That giddy feeling in her stomach was still softly simmering, however. "Wouldn't dream of it."

After a few more corners, Blake yanked open a door and gestured for Yang to go first. The room inside was identical to the one they'd left Ruby and Weiss in.

"Alright, we're here," Yang said.

"Okay, right, we need to time this perfectly," Ruby said. "Remember the plan?"

"Hands on, count to three, and then—" Weiss began.

"Go on three," Blake, Yang, and Weiss chorused at the same time, repeating what Ruby had drilled into their brains over the past several days.

"Exactly!" Ruby said, not exactly using her inside voice.

Blake sighed, these sisters and their lack of stealth were going to give her an ulcer.

"Okay, hands on," Ruby said.

"Hands on," Blake confirmed, biting back a grin when Yang made a goofy face, clearly at Ruby's expense.

"Okay. One. Two. Three!"

The switch in Blake's hand turned easily and at the same time as Yang's. Everything was silent for a second, then something clicked and the main lights shut off, replaced by emergency lights that bathed everything in a soft orange glow.

"Got it in one," Blake said, as she stared a timer on her scroll, counting down from fifteen minutes.

"Good job, team," Ruby crowed through the communicators.

"You say that as if we had more than one chance before we tripped the alarms," Weiss grumbled.

Yang held up her hand and mimed Weiss talking while she made a snooty face, forcing Blake to bite back laughter so their teammates wouldn't get suspicious in the other room.

"Okay," Blake swallowed back her mirth. "Stay put until I disable the last security lock. Remember that we have to wait out the fail safe first. Then I'll lead you back out after."

"And we'll be onto phase five!" Ruby added.

"Hopefully, Winter will have replacement outfits ready for us by that point," said Weiss.

Beckoning her partner with her, Blake headed towards the last room. In her mind, she could see the floor plans on the holoprojector, drawing a path through each corridor and following every twist and turn to her next objective.

Inside the final control room, Blake frowned, unimpressed. All the security tech in the room was severely outdated to the point of being practically obsolete, at least in Blake's mind. To be fair, she also doubted any intruders usually made it this far, given the complexity of the outer locks and the coordination needed between multiple people.

Feeling the heat of Yang's gaze on her back, Blake extended a claw and popped open one of the smaller panels on the wall, exposing the wires underneath.

"Hang on," Yang said, making Blake freeze in place.

"What?" Ruby asked, concerned. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

"Shh," said Yang. "I'm not talking to you."

Reaching out, Yang carefully took Blake's hand in her own, trailing over Blake's index finger and squeezing softly. Laughing, Blake extended her claws again briefly.

"What the fuck--that's so cool!" Yang whispered.

"Oh, they're flirting again." Weiss sounded like she was rolling her eyes.

"Uh, silence from the peanut gallery? Thank you???" Yang was looking to the side, as if trying to glare at Weiss through the communicator.

Curling her fingers around Yang's hand for the moment, Blake checked her scroll and settled in for a wait. "Okay, once the time runs down, I just have to cut a couple wires and we'll be on to phase five."

"Wait, that's it? I thought the security here was way more advanced than _wires._ " Weiss said the word as if it was a long primitive form of technology.

Blake rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time in the last hour and Yang smothered a giggle. "Yes, that's it. Timer's at—" she checked her scroll again and sighed— "12 minutes and 40 seconds."

A frustrated noise that sounded almost like a tea kettle came through the channel. Then Ruby started making shushing noises. "Weiss, don't be like that! Link up your scroll with me and we'll play that game again while we wait."

"Okay, okay, hang on a second."

Yang made a show of taking out her communicator and pocketing it. It wasn't the smartest choice, but Blake did the same. Even tucked in her pocket, Blake could still hear the murmur of Weiss and Ruby's voices. If there was trouble, she would hear it.

"So," Yang leaned up against a relatively safe looking part of wall and grinned at Blake, letting her eyes drag over the length of Blake's body. "Come here often?"

"Not as much as I used to," Blake answered, thinking about the various corporations she'd helped infiltrate in the past. They had almost always been Atlas corporations, though none of them had ever been on Atlas soil.

Yang paused for a moment, meeting Blake's gaze and searching her eyes. "Does it bother you? Having to do this kind of stuff again?"

She reached forward, fingertips brushing down Blake's arm with the lightest of touches. Blake shifted her hand closer as Yang reached her wrist, turning her arm so their fingers could intertwine. Biting into her lip, Blake thought about the question.

"When I first left the White Fang… No, when I first left Adam," Blake's voice didn't break on his name, but her breath hitched on the next inhale.

Yang's thumb traced circles on the back of Blake's hand.

"What the White Fang was created to do, what it was always meant to do - he took that and he twisted it, tainted it. It made me feel like I couldn't condone any of it. Even the good aspects of it felt awful to me."

The time read 10 minutes and 54 seconds now, as if slowing to a crawl in this room and Blake wasn't sure if she wanted it to speed back up or stop entirely. "But there's still a fight to be had," Blake continued. "Adam, Sienna - they didn't go about things the right way, I can see that. And," she paused, trembled a bit, moved closer to Yang. "It's hard to admit, but as I get older, I can see that my parents didn't have all the right answers, either. There's a balance, somewhere in between, that I need to find. And this," she gestured to the room around them, to the mission at hand. "This is part of that."

Her hand flexed, gripping Yang's tightly. Yang softened, raising the hand and pressing her lips, soft and chaste, to the ridge of Blake's knuckles. "Blake," she whispered. "You're amazing."

Heat bloomed across Blake's cheeks.

"Only a little," Blake said, trying to deflect some of the attention. A futile effort considering there was no one else to deflect the attention towards - Yang was the only other person in the room with her.

"Pfft, only a lot," corrected Yang.

"Please, you're standing right there," said Blake, a pleading tone in her voice and a mischievous light in her eyes.

"Are you saying I'm amazing?"

"Why would I ever think that you're not?"

Blake's response was probably more revealing that it was meant to be, and Yang felt her heart soften even as it grew heavier in her chest.

"I can think of a few reasons," answered Yang, honestly. She looked at her hand in Blake's, thought about how it was and wasn't the same hand that attacked Mercury during the tournament. She didn't feel guilty about that anymore - she knew now that she had been tricked - but it didn't change how she felt in that moment. It didn't change the memory of Blake, barely able to look her in the eyes. Didn't change the minutes of uncertainty that lanced her heart with more pain than she thought was possible. Made her realize just how important Blake was to her.

Blake's hand was still in hers, though, and it squeezed hers reassuringly. The gesture was somewhat lost to the metal surface, but Yang actually appreciated it more. Appreciated that Blake still treated it was part of her body.

"I can't," Blake said. "All I could think about was the time you convinced me to dance at Beacon, and how I wished I'd danced more than just my first with you. ...I wish a lot of my decisions had been different."

There wasn't much Yang could say to that, knowing the breadth of regrets Blake must've had. But Blake simply leaned into Yang, sighing as if the conversation was over. Yang placed her free hand at Blake's waist, and nudged Blake back a bit so they were facing each other again. "We can still dance."

"What, right now?" Blake let out a surprised, half-chuckle.

"Sure!" Yang bowed in an overly dramatic fashion. "Do you want this dance?" she asked.

"But there's no music," Blake protested weakly, her hand still slipping up Yang's arm to her shoulder, her other hand reaching for Yang's waist.

"Does it matter?"

"No."

The two swayed softly to no rhythm other than their own heartbeats, both unaware of how completely in sync it put them. Even without music, it was easy to just sway and enjoy the warmth. For so long, it felt like Blake had went without this kind of caring touch, and now she was addicted to it. Every little touch shared between her and Yang only made her ache for more. She moved closer as they swayed, letting her head rest on Yang's shoulder, hearing the way Yang's breathing stuttered as she swallowed thickly.

Blake knew what this was, she wasn't blind to it, but she was content not to rush it, too. She could enjoy being in Yang's arms, the warmth that seeped from her partner, the way her hands rested on Blake's back. Both of Blake's hand slipped to Yang's waist as she got more comfortable, both of them barely swaying anymore.

"Blake?" Yang said, voice barely a whisper. Her whole body was trembling.

Blake hummed in response but didn't move, feeling herself overcome with an almost relaxation. She could go to sleep right there if she wanted to, she thought. All the tension gone from her body.

Hands trailed to her hips, pushed, and Blake moved back but Yang didn't let her move very far. Just enough that there was space for Blake to look at Yang's face, meet her gaze. There were no words between them, just Yang's eyes dipping to Blake's mouth and back up, hands tugging her forward again. Their faces were desperately close, energy charging every atom of space between their mouths. Hot air fanned against Blake's chin with every breath Yang took. Their noses bumped.

The scroll in Blake's back pocket started vibrating as the timer reached zero and Blake leapt backwards in surprise. Yanking the scroll out of her pocket to double check the time, she huffed and crammed the communicator back into her ear, seeing Yang do the same in the corner of her eye.

"Timer's done, cutting the wires," Blake said, extending a claw and severing two wires in the open panel. "Done. On to phase five."

Yang rubbed at her face, as if trying to scrub away the redness that stained her cheeks. She looked up at Blake, unable to say anything now that they were both back on the comm channel.

Looking at Yang, Blake thought about almost kissing her just a second ago. Thought about kissing her right now before she led Yang back to the others.

She thought about all the ways she could screw this up if she got distracted again. All the ways she'd screwed up before, even when it hadn't been her fault. She couldn't risk it. Biting into her bottom lip, Blake stepped past Yang, leading her back to the others without a word.

"We're on our way back to you guys, now," Yang said softly. "Sit tight."

Her hand snuck its way back into Blake's, squeezing softly, and another weight cut loose from Blake's heart as she returned the gesture.

Even if it hadn't happened today, they had time. They would have time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely happy with this but I can only edit the thing so many times before I lose my mind


	2. Day 2: "Meet the Parents"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A twist on the prompt. The whole family gathers and waits to meet the newest additions. Warning for Mentions of Past Character Death (the war had its casualties).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title: "buy one, get one free"

Kali Belladonna hovered near the doorway to the ward Blake and Yang were in, waiting for a nurse allow visitors. Behind her, Ghira and Tai were leaning on the wall next to the chairs, pretending to be calm as they chatted about different kinds of fishing tackle and 'wouldn't it be nice if Tai got invited to fish down off the coast of Menagerie sometime?'

Weiss, Ruby, and Ilia were curled up on the seats next to Kali, talking softly. Or, Ruby and Weiss were talking softly while Ilia slept, head resting precariously on Ruby's shoulder. The table in front of them was loaded with empty coffee cups, helping them stay (mostly) awake for what had become quite the long ordeal.

Ruby's scroll beeped with a message.

"Nora again," she said. "No, not yet," Ruby dictated as she texted back. "Will. Let you. Know when it. Happens."

Weiss snorted.

Putting her scroll back on the coffee table, Ruby tiredly slouched forward, Ilia's sleeping form moving with her.

"Is it usually this long?" Ruby asked. "How long before it's too long?"

"How long before it's Xiao Long?" Tai piped up from where he was standing.

Ghira snorted, clearly appreciative of the dad humour. Meanwhile, Kali closed her eyes and breathed evenly through her nose. Everyone else still awake (Ruby and Weiss) groaned. "Ugh, Dad!"

"What? It was a good joke," Tai grinned, he took a shaky breath and moved to sit near Ruby, ruffling her hair. "And this kind of thing can take a long time. You took even longer."

"Really?"

"Really."

Ruby settled in her seat, a bit less anxious than before. Ilia let out a snore that cut off partway through, quickly going back to sleeping quietly.

"Well, I hope it doesn't take too much longer. I don't think I can drink anymore coffee without having a heart attack."

"Well, you're in the right place if you do have a heart attack," Kali supplied, lips pulling into a tired grin.

"I can see where Blake gets her sense of humour from," Weiss bemoaned, voice lacking any actual venom.

Kali sighed, standing to stretch her legs and get another cup of tea. It wouldn't do to get worried about anything just yet, even if things were dragging on far longer than she expected. Not that it stopped the anxiety entirely.

Letting her tea steep, Kali overlooked everyone else, wondering when she should start implementing a system of rotating naps before everyone fell asleep all at once. Ilia was already asleep. Ghira and Tai could probably power through a few more hours, but Ruby and Weiss looked ready to call it a night. (Or call it a morning, at this rate.)

"Excuse me?" a soft hand touched Kali's shoulder, and she turned to see a nurse standing there. (And Ancestors, she must've been tired if she hadn't even heard the nurse approach.) "They're ready for visitors now."

Ruby was up out of her seat first, sending Ilia sliding off her back. She jerked awake well before she fell out of her seat, blinking rapidly and looking around in confusion. Weiss steadied her, waiting for her to fully wake up before following after. Ghira smiled and slapped a large hand on Tai's shoulder, squeezing tight. As the two walked by, following the nurse, Kali slipped against Ghira's other side, finding comfort in his warmth.

The nurse showed them to Yang's room and motioned to the door. "Take your time," she said, before continuing down the hallway.

"Knock, knock," Kali said softly, outside the door.

"Come in," Blake answered, voice impossibly light.

Opening the door, Kali paused as Ruby slipped in past her, immediately rushing to Yang's side. Yang was exhausted but glowing, grinning as her family filtered in through the door. Kali's eyes immediately locked onto the bundle cradled in Blake's arms. Blake, noticing her mother's stare, brushed the baby's cap to the side for a moment, showing off a fluffy golden ear and a tuft of black hair.

"So cute!" Ruby said. "Do they both have ears?"

And then Kali noticed the other newborn bundled in Yang's arms.

"Twins, huh?" Tai said, pulling a chair over to Yang's side. "No wonder it took so long." He gazed at the child in his daughter's arms, then looked to the identical one in Blake's. His eyes shone with a deep sadness for a moment, obviously remembering Raven and Qrow. "Yeah, that ain't from my side of the family."

Yang snorted. "Alright," she said, feigning slight offense. "I'm getting tired of holding this one. Who wants to hold her first?"

"Ooh! Dad should!" Ruby said. "Then me! Or maybe me then Dad?"

Blake moved from the other side of the bed, clearly ready to let the rest of the family hold both twins. For a moment, it looked like she was moving towards her own parents first, but it was Weiss she stopped in front of. To her credit, Weiss looked only slightly surprised by the decision, her whole body melting at the sight of the baby.

"She's beautiful, you two," Weiss said, easily cradling the child in her arms. She had a two year old of her own at home. "Have you decided on names?"

As Ruby, very carefully, took the other baby from her sister's arms. The new parents started being enveloped in a rotation of hugs from the rest of the group.

"Yeah," Yang answered, pulling back from a hug with Ilia and briefly touching foreheads with her. "We wanted to draw from both our families so…" she looked to Blake, who gently stroked the cheek of the baby in Weiss's arms.

"This is Jin," Blake said. She looked at the one currently being held by Ruby, Tai helping to position her arms correctly. "And that's Nisha."

"Wait," Yang said. "I thought I had Jin and you had Nisha?"

Blake paused, looking at the twins, lips pressed together in a thin line. She leaned down and sniffed the one in Weiss's arms, as if that might help her identify which one was which.

Kali laughed into her hand, watching as Weiss passed the child to Ilia, who cradled the child with nervous arms. Her shoulders were tense but the scales on her cheeks were a warm orange colour, betraying how overjoyed she was.

"Kali," Tai whispered, motioning her over to where Ruby was cradling the other twin.

Heart overflowing with warmth, Kali approached, took the baby from Ruby with careful hands. In her periphery she could see, Ghira wrap Blake in a hug, giving a soft bunt to the crown of her head. Her ears caught his soft whisper, "I'm so proud of you."

Then everything melted away except for the baby in her arms, shifting tiredly in her bundle. Being so close, Kali could see her daughter's features in the small, chubby face. The chin, the eyes - the nose was definitely from the other side of the family though.

Kali cooed, starting slightly when Blake and Ghira appeared on either side, pressing closer to stare.

"She's beautiful, Blake."

"Thank you," Blake grinned. "But Yang did most of the work."

"Fuck yeah I did."

"Yang!" Tai admonished.

"What, they're my kids," Yang said.

"Yang," Blake warned.

"Okay, okay. We're a fudge-only household for the next decade, I guess."

Blake laughed softly.

"Sometimes I wonder why anyone would let you two be parents," Weiss said, entirely in jest. More seriously, she looked towards the baby Ilia's arms, brushing a strand of black tuft back under the cap. "These kids are going to be amazing. You're going to give me a run for my money in the parenting department."

"Oh, here comes Weiss's competitive streak," Ruby teased, prodding Weiss in the side. "Didn't think it would apply to parenting, though."

"Oh, shush!" Weiss huffed while Ilia stifled a laugh.

"So," Ruby asked, staring at her two nieces. "Did we figure out which one is which, yet?"

Sighing, Blake slumped onto the edge of the bed, leaning against her reclining wife. 

"I think that's a no," Yang said, relaxing further into her pillow when Blake started rubbing along her shoulder and arm.

Soft laughter filled the room as everyone had a brief chuckle at the expense of the new parents.

"Don't feel bad about it," Tai said, placing a comforting hand on Blake's shoulder. His smile had a teasing edge to it. "You'll figure it out. Eventually. Maybe."


	3. Day 3: "Wedding"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Blake and Yang wait for their wedding ceremony to start, Tai gives Yang a very special gift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title: "something blue"

It was a gorgeous, sunny afternoon in Menagerie. A light breeze rippled through the sheer curtains, creating a wave like pattern with the sunlight hit the floor and walls. It was the perfect weather for a wedding. Or the local, traditional equivalent of a wedding.

Which was still just a wedding, but compared to the elaborate Atlesian ceremonies that had become popular in Vale and Mistral, it felt much simpler - at least from what Yang understood. While the guest  list was surprisingly big (she supposed having political leaders as in-laws did that), tonight was mainly just a feast and a celebration for the short ceremony they'd be having tomorrow morning. She didn't have to remember or recite any vows, she just had to show up and look hopelessly in love. To proudly display herself as Blake's partner. Something that she was very good at doing, mostly because she'd been doing it naturally for years.

That didn't stop Yang from being nervous, though.

Even with Blake curled up next to her on the couch, the two of them with nothing to do until the feast started, Yang couldn't shake her nerves. Just waiting was killing her.

Blake shifted against her side, ear twitching and tickling the underside of her jaw. If Yang stopped focusing on her own thumping pulse, she could feel the nervous tremor running through Blake, too.

"Anxious?" Yang asked.

"Mmm," Blake hummed in agreement. "I'm tired of waiting. I mean, I'm excited but we've been together so long now that it just feels like a foregone conclusion, y'know? The waiting feels so unnecessary."

Her voice broke with a frustrated sigh on the last word, in such a Blake way that Yang couldn't help but giggle, pressing a kiss to the forehead of her, somewhat petulant, fiance.

Smiling into Blake's hair, Yang looked down at the intertwined fingers of their hands (her left and Blake's right) and at the complementary designs that had been intricately inked into their skin for the ceremony. The ink had turned a rich red-brown over the last two days and, according to Blake, would wash out completely over the course of the next week.

That didn't change how permanent it felt right then, in that moment. Like leylines of their aura, turned visible and intertwined. Evidence of their linked souls on display for all to see.

Her heart fluttered.

Before she could think of anything romantic to say, there was a soft knock on the door.

Blake frowned. "It's not time yet," she whispered.

"Who is it?" Yang called.

"Hey kiddo." It was Taiyang's voice on the other side of the door. "Can I borrow you for a sec?"

"Yeah, sure."

Yang carefully moved Blake so she could sit up. Blake, despite being wide awake, was entirely uncooperative, making Yang pick her up and set her back down on the couch (much to Yang's amusement). As she drew away, Yang's hand cupped the curve of Blake's jaw, thumb brushing over her cheek. Yang had always thought that the gesture must feel weird with the polymer mesh fingertips of her prosthetic, but Blake nuzzled into her palm all the same.

"Be right back," Yang whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere," Blake returned lazily, snuggling into the crook of the couch.

"What's up?" Yang asked, as she closed the door behind her to give Blake some quiet.

Taiyang ran a hand through his graying hair and sighed. "I, uh, know this is a different kind of tradition, but I've got something for you." He dug a small jewelry box from his pocket, opening it and drawing out a necklace. It was a little rugged - a polished blue stone set in a solid metal bracket, bound by a thin but sturdy strip of leather.

Yang recognized it immediately as Summer's.

"That's…"

"Yeah, it was her mom's, too, y'know. She left it behind before she--" Tai cut himself off, not wanting to stir up those kinds of memories. "Anyway, we talked about it a few times, back when she was pregnant with your sister. She wanted you to have it." He took the pendant and placed it in Yang's palm, curling her hand around it. "Summer always believed you were just as much her daughter as your sister was."

"I know," Yang said, voice trembling. She sniffed and wiped at the tears building in her eyes. "She's always been mom to me."

"I'm glad."

"I still kinda feel like this should go to Ruby, though," Yang said, looking at the necklace in her hands, touching it with nothing short of reverence.

"Your sister already has Summer's eyes, her smile - I'm pretty sure she's okay with you getting this one."

Yang choked back a sob, wiping more tears away. "Shit," she said with a smile. "I don't wanna be all puffy eyed for the dinner later."

"C'mere, baby girl," Taiyang said, pulling Yang into a hug and sighing when his chin hit her shoulder. "When did you get taller than me, again?"

"Pretty sure that was when I was fourteen, old man. Your memory's starting to go."

The teasing helped ease the pressure at the corners of Yang's eyes, and she took in a deep breath, squeezing her father tight. He feigned a wheeze and she laughed, letting him go.

"Alright, now get back to your lady before I make you cry too much and she gets mad at me. She scares me a bit." He looked towards the door nervously. "Although I guess she can probably hear me."

"Probably."

"Well, that's my cue to split then. Yang," he gripped her shoulder, looking into her eyes with a smug smile growing on his face. " _Xiao Long._ "

"Ugh," Yang cringed at the bad pun, pushing her father away and heading back into the room.

Blake was already standing from the couch, ears at full alert. She looked towards Yang inquisitively, but didn't say anything.

"I'm good," Yang said, feeling the temporary distraction of her father's bad humour fade away, leaving her with last bits of a fading sorrow. "Just. Got a little teary, but it was the good kind."

Blake padded silently over and cupped Yang's face, featherlight strokes wiping away the last traces of her tears. Pressing a gentle kiss to the apple of Yang's cheek, she leaned against her, content to just comfort her in silence.

After a few moments of just holding Blake, Yang let out a heavy sigh. "Help me put this on?" She asked, presenting the necklace to Blake.

"Of course."

Careful fingers untied the leather cord and then Yang spun, letting Blake stand at her back. She pulled as much of her hair out of the way as she could, breath hitching when Blake's fingers brushed against the nape of her neck, gently knotting the cord. The pendant settled in the dip between her collarbones, the weight resting just above her heart.

Yang let out a heavy breath and Blake pressed her mouth comfortingly to the back of Yang's shoulder in response, helping to ease the tension that was just starting to build there. Blake's ears twitched, the tips rustling Yang's hair.

"You okay?" Blake asked.

Touching the pendant lovingly, Yang felt her mother's presence - Summer's warm smile, her vivacious laugh, her tender embrace. Finally, Yang let out the last of her nerves in a long exhale. "Yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did I maybe take a few different wedding traditions and smash them together? yeah


	4. Day 4: "AU"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Yang discuss their pasts and what it means for their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title: "who even knows"  
> this is based off a very old superhero AU that I had back in the day (feat. non-binary Blake)

"You… had powers before, right?" Yang asked, fingers drawing a tender path up the inside of Blake's wrist. "Before the… experiments, I mean?"

The two were curled up on the couch together, Yang half-reclined along the cushions and Blake reclined against her, their side tucked into Yang's chest.

"Yes," Blake answered. They reached out, pulled at the shadows across the room and watched as the shadows rippled and moved in response. Long, dark tendrils snaked across the walls, through the air, arcing towards Blake's fingertips. "I discovered my powers pretty early. I remember all the other kids my age were afraid of the dark, but… it was hard for me to be afraid when I could do this."

They relaxed their hand and the shadows fell back to their natural state.

Yang hummed, pressing a soft kiss to Blake's crown. Blake looked up and Yang stretched down to press a firmer kiss to their mouth, holding back a snicker when Blake's form rippled softly. It was a far cry from the pair's first kiss, when both had been so overwhelmed with emotion that Blake had collapsed into an incorporeal shadow on the floor while Yang had started glowing bright enough to fade the paint on the walls.

"What about you?" Blake asked.

Their hand had started drawing a path along Yang's collarbones, and Yang had to concentrate on keeping her cool. Her powers were prone to overcharging, especially when she was distracted. She wet her lips, her mouth feeling dry. "Like, did I have powers before, or…?"

"Yeah."

"I mean, yeah, but I didn't know I had them," Yang answered. She'd never forget the moment she discovered her powers. Or well, she didn't actually remember that particular moment, just the moments leading up to it, and the aftermath. "I always thought I was the black sheep of the family, y'know? Even Dad has a minor power, but mine is reactive, so I never discovered it until Cinder tried to kill me."

"That's…" Blake's fingers followed an invisible line, starting at the hollow of Yang's throat and trailing down her sternum, stopping at the bottom of her ribcage. Following the path of the star Yang had swallowed.

"Yeah," Yang said, arms curling around Blake's waist and squeezing, more for her own comfort than theirs. "She thought she was gonna kill me with it. I thought she was gonna kill me with it. Hell, we all thought I was two seconds away from being Ruby's origin story, but…"

"But you weren't a black sheep after all," Blake curled closer into Yang, feeling her heartbeat under their palm. That the star didn't kill Yang instantly, that she'd had the exact set of powers needed to survive, was a miracle. But Yang's powers could only do so much to mitigate the damage. "It's still killing you, though."

Yang shifted, uncomfortable. She didn't like the topic - denied it altogether when Ruby was around. "Slowly, yeah. And I mean, everyone dies eventually. We don't even know if I'm gonna die faster or whatever. I could end up living just as long."

It was a weak defense. One that might be true, in the way that Schroedinger's cat might still be alive as long as you didn't open the box.

"It's okay," Blake reassured. "After what happened to me, my molecules are slowly tearing themselves apart. One day, I won't be able to keep my physical form anymore. And after that, what's left of me will slowly disperse back into the shadows."

"Hmm, don't like that," Yang said flatly, trying to dodge the emotions of the conversation entirely. Her hands gripped Blake's waist tight, reassuring herself with the solidness of their form. "I don't like thinking about you dying."

"...You're dying, too."

"I don't like thinking about that, either."

Curling up even more on Yang, Blake let their head rest on Yang's chest, heartbeat in their ear. With death looming in the distance, Blake appreciated the defiance of life even more. They wouldn't be around forever, and neither would Yang.

"We'll die together."

"...You're so morbid."


	5. Day 5: "Beacon Days"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang wakes up in the middle of the night to find Blake's bed empty. Fearing the worst, Yang searches Blake out, but the answer to Blake's behaviour is... unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alternate title: "blake gets the zoomies"

Yang woke up at two in the morning to the sound of the door slamming shut and a suspiciously empty bed below her. "What? Blake," she mumbled, still shaking off the deep sleep she had been woken from. Ruby snored in her bunk and Weiss grumbled, rolling over and pulling the pillow over her head.

There was a growing panic in her chest, propelling her out of her bunk and onto her feet. After the revelation that Blake was a faunus, and her subsequent, albeit temporary, disappearance, Yang couldn't shake the fear that Blake might just vanish again. And it seemed like her fears had been realized tonight.

"Stop it," she told herself softly, trying to ease the tidal wave of paranoia and anxiety. "You don't know that, maybe she just couldn't sleep." Looking around the room, Yang noted that all of Blake's belongings were still in the room, although it looked like she had changed out of her pajamas.

"A late night walk, maybe?" Yang said, trying to reassure herself. Blake's scroll was missing from the nightstand, and Yang remembered it had definitely been there earlier. It meant she'd taken her scroll and that was… good, right? Yang picked up her scroll and found Blake in her contacts, checking for a text even though she had no notifications.

Maybe she should just… text Blake? That wouldn't be annoying or overbearing, right?

_hey_

There was no immediate response and Yang decided to sit down and watch a couple dog videos before freaking out too much. But when she swiped back to her texts, there was still nothing.

_I woke up and you weren't in bed, just want to make sure you're okay_

She forced herself to put her scroll down and wait, knowing that Blake didn't need to respond immediately. Even if she typically did respond quite fast when they were chatting in class or sometimes even when they were both in bed. Yang leaned back in the desk chair, tipping it onto the back legs and balancing her weight out.

The thought of Blake disappearing into the night was replaced by the thought of Blake in trouble, unable to ask for help, and Yang shot out of her seat, racing to change out of her pajamas. What if Blake was in trouble and she had just wasted valuable time waiting for her to text back?

She was in the middle of putting on her boots, hopping in place as she pulled them on, when her scroll pinged. With only one boot on, Yang snatched her scroll off the desk and opened her texts.

_couldn't sleep so I went for a run, sorry if I worried you_

Letting out an aggravated sigh that disturbed Ruby and Weiss, Yang looked down at herself. Her jacket was buttoned wrong and her other boot was flopped under Blake's bed. She could change back into her PJs and try to go back to sleep, but her heart was still hammering slowly in her chest. A run to let off that extra energy sounded nice.

_would it be alright if I joined you?_

_yeah, I'm in the woods where they do survival classes_

_k, omw_

Pocketing her scroll, Yang yanked on her other boot, rebuttoned her jacket, and started for the door. She paused, door half open, and pulled a notebook from the desk, opening it to a blank page and wrote a note to Ruby and Weiss, in case they woke up in the middle of the night, too, and noticed their teammates missing.

Satisfied, Yang put the pen down and slipped quietly out of the room, wincing at how loud the click of the door seemed in the quiet of the night. Keeping her footfalls as silent as possible, she crept down the carpeted hallway, past JNPR's room and to the stairwell, where she gave a quick glance to her surroundings and then hopped the railing, falling through the centre of the spiral to the ground floor below.

She landed with a heavy thud, staggering on impact. "Alright, well that woke me up."

Ten minutes later, she was in the woods behind Beacon, squinting in the dark of pre-dawn and trying to figure out where Blake was. She thought about yelling, but it felt wrong to be that loud at this time of night. Plus, Blake's ears weren't just for show, right? "Blake," Yang hissed.

"Hi," Blake said, right in Yang's ear.

"Oh, shit!" Yang jumped, tripping and almost faceplanting in the ground before recovering. 

She turned on her heel, but could only see the faint outline of Blake in the dark. Still, a giggle reached her ears and she was stunned for a moment in surprise.

Blake was… happy? It was hard to see, but Yang could definitely tell she wasn't standing still, rocking on her heels and almost bouncing - kind of like what Ruby did when she had too much energy. But that was par for the course with Ruby. With Blake, it was just plain ol' strange.

"Are you… okay?" Yang asked, unsure what to make of this situation.

"Yep," Blake said. "Just had a bit too much energy and couldn't sleep. Running usually helps so… here I am."

"...I see."

A poor choice of words, considering she couldn't see much at all. The moon was only a sliver in the sky tonight, and while it was probably enough light for Blake to see, it was nowhere close to what Yang needed.

"Do you?" Blake asked, waving a hand in Yang's face. "Anyway, if you want to run with me, I won't feel bad if you need to use your scroll light."

"Thanks," Yang said, pulling her scroll out.

When the light came on, Blake squinted, lifting a hand to shield her eyes until they adjusted to the light. In the light, Yang also noticed she wasn't wearing her bow, ears flicking softly against the night's slow breeze. There was something about her that had Yang swallowing thickly. She didn't look like a different person, but there was a freedom to the expression on her face that felt good. 

"What?" Blake asked, one ear folding back as she tilted her head in Yang's direction.

Oh. Yang did her best to fight the flush on her cheeks, knowing that Blake could definitely see it in this light. "Nothing, just trying to figure out where to put my scroll so I don't have to hold it." After careful consideration, she slipped her scroll into her top, where it was held steady between the fabric and her boob. "There we go. Always knew these things were good for something."

"Alright," Blake said, sounding a little strangled. She cleared her throat. "You ready?"

"...Yes?"

Bouncing on her heels, Blake grinned, sharp teeth flashing in the light of Yang's scroll. "Follow me!"

And then she was tearing off into the trees, leaving Yang scrambling to chase after. Though they'd both been in these several times, Yang couldn't claim she knew them well enough to navigate the dense parts at high speed, especially at night with a flashlight that she didn't have much control over.

It was enough to keep up with Blake though, who seemed to be bouncing from tree trunk to tree trunk, always slowing down when she got too far ahead and then leaping ahead as soon as she saw Yang again. "Is this a run or a chase?" Yang called out, when Blake disappeared from view yet again.

When Yang turned the corner this time, Blake wasn't waiting. The light revealed nothing.

"Blake?"

Something brushed Yang's back and she yelped, spinning and swinging her fist. It went right through Blake's clone, dissipating it, and Blake laughed. "Whoops, didn't think I'd scare you that much."

"Blake!" Yang leaned against a tree trunk and breathed through her wildly beating heart. "What the shit."

"Sorry," Blake tucked some stray strands of hair behind her ear. "I really didn't mean to scare you. I'm just…"

"Excessively hyper?" Yang cut in. "Did you get into Nora's stash of espresso."

"You know I don't drink coffee." Blake glowered and something about her whole posture just sort of slumped. "I'll try to tone it down a bit, sorry."

"What? No," Yang popped back to her feet. "It's cool! I'm just not used to it, so I'm trying to understand what's going on. You definitely don't have to tone it down, though."

"There isn't much explanation, just that sometimes I get random spurts of energy in the middle of the night. It happened a lot when I was younger and, to be honest, I thought I'd grown out of it, but not quite yet I guess."

"Cool, cool. Coolcoolcool," Yang said, nodding. "So, where you at now? Like, how much energy do you have left to burn? Sixty percent? Seventy percent?"

Blake tapped a finger to her chin and thought about it. "Probably closer to thirty percent, I don't really have a gauge for it. Just I keep going until I tire myself out again."

"Is it just running, or does any activity help?"

"Hmm," Blake dropped into a crouch and then sprung up onto a tree branch, walking down the branch like it was a tightrope before hopping onto another branch. "Running is the best, but anything that keeps me moving helps."

"Well, I'm not great at running the dark and this, uh…" she gestured to where her scroll was sliding even further down her shirt.

"Cup holder?" Blake offered.

Yang chuckled and ended up snorting. Her cheeks burned red. "Yeah, that. It's not working so well. So how about we find a clearing and spar instead?"

"I feel like you would have an unfair advantage," Blake said, now scaling a different tree. She plucked a pinecone from a branch and tossed it in Yang's direction, bouncing it off Yang's elbow. "But you know what? I'm down for that."

"Awesome, let's do this!"

The clearing turned out to be the clearing that most of the survival classes were held in. Yang drew a circle in the dirt with her boot. It was only a few feet in diameter, making it far too small to be any sort of ring.

"And what's this for?" Blake asked.

"It's for me. You said I'd have an unfair advantage, so I'm not going to move outside of this circle. You, however, can move wherever you want. All you need to do to win is push me outside the circle."

"I'm stronger than you think," Blake said.

"I know," Yang said, voice soft and wishing she could tell Blake all the ways she thought her partner was strong.

"Ready?" Yang said.

Blake was practically vibrating with extra energy, and nodded.

"Go."

Blake took off into the tree line again, and Yang tried to keep her eyes focused on her perimeter, catching flashes of Blake here and there. It was just like sparring Ruby in a way, waiting for the fight to come to her. Blake wasn't as fast, but it was still dark out, and her clones could create a lot of misdirection.

Yang would have to stay focused.

A boot hit the dirt hard behind Yang, and she spun, blocking a tackle that dissipated a clone, and then ducked as Blake bounced over her back. When Yang reached out to grab her, Blake slipped away and back out of sight. A quiet snicker reaching Yang's ears in the breeze.

Checking her footing, Yang centered herself in the circle again and waited. Another sound came from behind Yang and this she didn't even turn, just let the clone explode in shadow against her back and caught the real Blake's wrist in her hand. Blake's hand twisted in her grip, grabbing at Yang's wrist in return, and Yang barely reacted in time to move her foot out of the way when Blake tried to stomp on her toes.

With Blake's right hand locked with Yang's left hand, Yang was sure that Blake was at a disadvantage, but she threw a wild elbow that Yang had to block with her forearm. Even with her aura, the blow stung a bit. She didn't want to always be on the defense though, and as she blocked Blake's blow, she tugged Blake closer and threw out a knee into Blake's thigh, trying to disrupt Blake's balance.

Blake staggered, but managed to wrap an ankle around Yang's leg, trying to take her down instead. It felt rude (and mean-spirited) to try a hook at Blake's unprotected face, so Yang resorted to wrapping up Blake's other arm and twisting at the waist, trying to shoulder throw Blake to the ground.

She'd done the move so many times against people so much heavier than her that it felt like nothing to lift Blake, but somewhere between lifting Blake and pinning her to the ground, something went wrong. Blake didn't stop moving, even in midair, her body twisted and Yang had only a split-second to realize she'd fucked up before they hit the ground, Blake's legs wrapped in a perfect triangle choke around her.

For a moment, they both just laid there, Yang watching Blake's face carefully as Blake's lips slowly tugged up into a grin. Blake's legs still weren't squeezing her just yet, which meant she had a chance to save her pride a little bit. If she could get over the fact that she was, indeed, between Blake's legs right now.

 _If I end up having a wet dream about this I'm going to drown myself in the lake,_ Yang thought. She was at Blake's mercy right now and Blake didn't look all that merciful.

Putting on her best puppy dog eyes, Yang made her case. "Listen."

"I'm listening."

Yang's mouth opened and nothing came out.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Blake said, and then her legs started to squeeze.

Yang immediately started tapping.

Releasing the chokehold, Blake laughed as Yang rolled onto her back beside her and gasped for air.

"And here I thought you wouldn't go down so easy."

"Shut up," Yang growled, more embarrassed than annoyed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.

Blake shifted in the dirt next to her. "Sorry."

"What?" Yang looked to Blake. "What for?"

"For teasing, I didn't mean to make you upset."

"I'm not upset, I was just… y'know, playing the part. You're good."

Blake didn't seem convinced.

Watching her, Yang could see all the ways she was reverting back into the Blake that Yang had met the first day. She could see the cracks behind that and all the little ways Blake had revealed herself in the time that had passed. The revelation that Blake was a Faunus, that she had been White Fang in the past - Yang thought that it would be the end of Blake's hiding.

But there was clearly more to than that. Like there was a part of her, even beyond all of that, that she had been trained to hold back.

Yang reached out, took Blake's hand in her own. "I'm serious. I like it when you're all teasing and stuff. It's like you're all--"

"Wild?"

"Feisty."

"Hmm, I guess I could live that."

The conversation died again and Yang just stared up at the stars, feeling the palm of her hand burn hot against Blake's. For a moment, she thought about pulling away, feeling like the contact had long passed an appropriate amount of time, but Blake's hand didn't try to pull away either. In fact, Blake even tightened her grip when she felt Yang's hand shift.

"So, how's that energy level now?" Yang asked.

Blake didn't answer and when Yang turned to look at her partner, she was sleeping peacefully.

"Blake Belladonna," Yang whispered. Blake's ear twitched and she rolled towards Yang, but she didn't wake up. Yang thought about picking up Blake and carrying her back to the dorm, but she couldn't free her hand from Blake's. Instead, she moved forward, pulling Blake into her chest, and tried to relax. "What on Remnant are you doing to me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look, I saw a post about the possibility of Blake getting the zoomies and I ran with it


	6. Day 6: "Beach Day"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang gives Blake a guided tour of her favourite beach on Patch.

"Sorry," Yang said, as her foot slipped on a log. "I know it's not a tropical beach with mimosas or whatever."

"Don't apologize," said Blake, her hand squeezing Yang's. "I love it. I feel I can actually relax."

The beaches in Patch were nothing like the beaches in Menagerie, and Blake appreciated that. This one was made up of smooth rocks that shifted and crunched as they walked, creating some precarious footing. A mess of driftwood dotted the shore, some neatly lined and others just jutting off at odd angles. The high tide line was marked by a small embankment of dirt and exposed roots that poked out from the forest just beyond. Like the water had cut right into the land and washed it away.

And the water. The water was beautiful.

There was something to be said about the crystalline waters in Menagerie, but the deep green of the waters off Vale's cost were brilliant in their own right. Blake kept staring, mesmerized by the way the wind rippled the opaque surface, creating soft whitecaps that crested and disappeared right back into the dark waters.

Stepping awkwardly, Blake bumped into Yang's shoulder to keep her balance and got a laugh out of it. The ground underfoot was wet from an earlier rainfall and the gray blanket of clouds in the sky warned of more. But the overwhelming scent of fresh pine and petrichor was refreshing. Not to mention all the soft noises of small animals and insects had Blake's ears twitching and shifting every few seconds.

It was… peaceful.

"Yeah," Yang breathed out. "I… I love it, too, actually. I guess I'm just so used to people not liking this kind of thing."

"Well, clearly I'm not people," Blake added, with her signature dry sarcasm.

Yang giggled. "You wanna see more?"

"Yes."

Yang tugged Blake along. "Okay, c'mon. Let's explore."

Stumbling over some uneven rocks, they managed to keep holding hands and laughed when they jostled shoulders again. Raising a hand and pointing, Yang put on her best tour guide voice. "Up ahead you'll see the rock I hated for most of my child because I tripped and scraped my knee on it when I was four."

Blake laughed so hard she tripped, too focused on trying to stifle her chuckles instead of watching where she was going. Only Yang's steady grip kept her upright.

"And this log, circa some long-ass time ago until now - this is the Log of Wisdom that Ruby and I would come to for guidance. Also because there was a frog with old man's beard stuck to it the first time we came here and we were convinced it was a wizard in disguise."

"Perfectly understandable," Blake nodded, still fighting back laughter.

"And this…" Yang paused as they circled around a rather large boulder. "Aw man, the tidepools are gone. There used to be a little tide pool with tiny crabs and stuff right here."

"Well, looks like the tour's over then," Blake joked, resting her head on Yang's shoulder.

Yang only frowned, and Blake turned to look at her.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I haven't been back here in a while, but I didn't know the tide pool was gone. Summer used to take me down here, back when she was still pregnant with Ruby. It was kind of our thing. I'm… pretty bummed about it, actually."

"I'm sorry, Yang."

"I'll live," Yang said with a heavy sigh, gratefully accepting the soft bunts to her cheek and jaw. "Okay, okay, I get it, you love me. I won't wallow."

"I don't mind if your sad," Blake murmured, cuddling closer. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to focus on it and nothing else."

"I just said I wasn't going to wallow."

Blake nipped at Yang's jaw. "Okay, just so we're clear." She pulled back with a tentative smile on her face that Yang returned easily.

Her ears twitched, on high alert, and rotated to focus on a noise coming from further down the shore. Turning towards the noise, Blake's eyes caught a flicker of movement.

"Wha-?" Yang was cut off by Blake's hand pressing against her mouth.

Letting go of Yang, Blake moved to crouch over a pile of rocks. Carefully, she moved them away, ears pointed sharp and perked forward. For a moment, Blake sat perfectly still and then there was the barest of trembles in her bottom jaw before she reached forward, quick as lightning. Clearing her throat, Blake stood and turned to Yang, presenting a tiny crab, it's body pinched gently between her fingers and faced away so it's claws couldn't reach her hand.

"Found your tidepool," Blake said.

Yang laughed and rushed to see. It wasn't the same as the one in her memories, but it had all the same elements - the colourful little sea stars, the tiniest crabs, barnacles and limpets, and the tiny sea snails - and really, that was what mattered. She looked back at the crab in Blake's grip and reached for it with her prosthetic. Her brain told her it couldn't do much harm at that size, but she didn't want to take her chances. Gently holding it, the crab latched on her metal thumb with a futile grip.

"One time, when I came down here with Summer… I think it was after Ruby was born, but she would've still been like, a tiny baby. I found one of these crabs and I thought I'd like, discovered it or something. Like it was so small that only I, a small child, could've seen it and no one else. So I picked it up to show it to Mom, but I obviously didn't know about the claws."

Blake winced but Yang noticed it didn't disrupt the amused grin on her mouth.

"Yeah, it was bigger than this one, and it pinched my nose so hard that I swore off seafood until I was about seven."

Shaking her head with a laugh, Blake gently pried the crab from Yang's hand and set it back in the tidepool, both of them watching as it scuttled under some rocks. "I used to do stuff like this with my mom when I was a kid, too," Blake said. "Not the tidepools thing, more just the 'exploring nature' thing. I spent most of my childhood traveling through Mistral, so she'd take me around to show me different flora, let me sate my curiosity."

"You do have a lot of that, not that that's a bad thing." Yang murmured, standing closer to Blake and linking their hands back together.

"Anyway," Blake continued with only a soft roll of her eyes. "One time I caught a frog that I thought looked really cool and brought it back to show everyone."

Yang could already see where this story was going. "It was poisonous, wasn't it?"

"Actually, it wasn't. It just looked an awful lot like a poisonous one. Not that any of the adults I tried showing it to knew that."

The image of a tiny Blake, running towards a group of panicking adults with a wide smile, frog cupped in outstretched hands, came to Yang's mind and she snorted, choking on a laugh.

Tugging on Yang's hand, Blake led them further down the beach, her ears listening for any more fun discoveries. "I used to think that my mom had just been humoring me, but now that I'm older, I'm pretty sure she enjoyed those times, too."

"Yeah," Yang breathed, thinking of Summer. Sometimes she focused so much on what Summer meant to her, that she forgot to think about what she might've meant to Summer. To have a child so readily accept you as a parent like that.

The image in Yang's mind warped, from a tiny Blake and younger Kali, to a tiny version of herself with Summer.

Then again to another child, Blake's features clear as day on their face, but not Blake. Because Blake was standing nearby, watching as the child explored the beach. The flash of potential had Yang swallowing thickly. "Yeah. Maybe, eventually…"

She trailed off. Kids were definitely not a subject they'd breached in their relationship. Only twenty-three and still hot off the heels of saving the world two years ago (and sort of saving the world again last year, but in a much more boring and political way), it felt like everything was still too new, too early for children.

It made her wonder how her own parents did it.

Blake had stopped, looking at Yang with a heavy gaze. One that was full of questions neither of them were quite ready to ask. So Yang didn't say anything else, just smiled awkwardly, but, judging by the soft look she received in return, she didn't have to.

"Yeah," Blake said, turning back towards their mini adventure, fingers interlacing with Yang's. "Maybe eventually."


	7. Day 7: "Growing Old Together/Future"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the yearly family picnic and the more things change, the more things stay the same.

"Hurry up, would ya?" a voice shouted from far ahead. The owner of said voice was out of view, hidden by the thick forest of Forever Fall.

Blake sighed, shaking her head, and slowed to a stop - only partially out of spite. The walk wasn't too far, but it was taking a lot longer than it had last year. After several minutes of hiking up a steep incline, she needed a moment. She wasn't feeling winded, but her aura felt weird, stretching out in a way it wasn't used to, which in turn triggered a phantom pain just below her left knee, right where her prosthetic leg was now attached.

"Need a break?" said Yang, hand coming to touch Blake's shoulder. 

Unlike the kids, who had run far ahead, Yang had been content to match her wife's slow pace. Taking another deep breath, Blake relaxed her aura for a moment, letting herself get centered again before channeling her aura back through her prosthetic again. "I'm assuming this gets easier, but I can't imagine doing  _ this _ every day for literal  _ decades. _ "

"Way to make me feel old, but yeah, it gets easier," Yang said, touching her forehead softly to Blake's crown.

Blake let out a snort of amusement and waited a moment before raising her head to look up at Yang. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the canopy and illuminated her hair, making the silver-white strands stand out more than usual amongst the dragon's mane of gold.

"Alright," Blake said, stretching her leg out a bit. "I'm good."

Racing footsteps crunched the leaves on the forest floor, getting louder with each passing second. From a thicket of trees, Jin's face appeared, looking somewhat sour before Nisha leapt onto his back, nearly toppling him and sending them both tumbling.

"You good?" Nisha asked, from her perch on Jin's back.

Jin scowled and stood up, but rather than try to throw Nisha off, he let her smoothly transition into being piggy-backed. "Nisha!" he complained.

Laughing, Blake kept moving forward at a steady pace. A pace she imagined was still too slow for her children. "I'm good," she repeated, and if it had been anyone else, anyone other than Blake's own family, they would've completely missed the hint of exasperation starting to creep into her own voice.

(It had been almost a year now and frankly, she was starting to get sick of all the well meaning folks asking if she was okay. Thankfully, Yang understood far better than most.)

"Well, we're almost there," Jin said, trying to reassure his mama.

"I know," Blake said, walking hand in hand with Yang and squeezing her hand tight. "I memorized this place long before either of you were born. Before I even met your mom, in fact."

"And you don't know any shortcuts?" Nisha teased.

"This is the shortcut," Blake said, allowing herself to be baited. It's a good distraction from the strange sense of discomfort in her leg.

"C'mon," Yang said, tugging Blake's hand forward just a little. "A little bit farther and then us old ladies can sit down."

"Stop saying we're old, we're not that old!" Blake complained.

"Speak for yourself, I'm fucking ancient."

The twins could barely contain their laughter, Jin staggering into step beside Blake and Yang. Usually, this was the point where they tried to get piggybacks from their parents (even though they were practically adults now), but Jin's eyes darted to Blake's leg for a moment and he stayed in step with them, while Nisha remained content to be carried by her brother.

"And what does that make me?" Blake said. "Three months older than fucking ancient?"

"Yes."

"You--"

"Can you two save the flirting for after we get to the picnic area, please?" Nisha said, resting her chin in her palm, elbow lodged firmly in Jin's shoulder.

"Being bossed around by our own kids, what has the world come to?" Yang stage whispered to Blake.

Laughing, Blake tugged Yang's hand up to press a soft kiss to the knuckles, just because she could. "What has the world come to?" she repeated. "I think… it's come to the point where…" she let go of Yang's hand. "Last one there does dishes for a week!" And then Blake was off in a sprint, throwing clones to propel herself forward the last two hundred yards, darting through the dense patch of forest.

Behind her, she could hear Yang's surprised shout and the crunching of leaves as everyone else gave chase. The twins scuffled, cursing at each other in the back. Just as Blake reached the treeline and saw the picnic area, Nisha appeared next to the table in a burst of dark energy, grinning as her aura shimmered for a moment, and then Jin appeared next to her in a similar cloud of shadow.

With many, many yards to spare, Blake made it to the picnic table ahead of Yang.

"Boo!" Nisha said, as Yang slowly sauntered into the clearing. "You totally let Mama win."

"Okay, first of all," Yang said. "I don't  _ let _ your mama do anything, she just does it. Second," she paused as she reached the picnic table, wrapping an arm around Blake's waist. For a moment, she just stood, taking in the moment of her family, together and smiling. "What can I say?" she said. "I guess I just know when I'm beat."

**Author's Note:**

> with the exception of the AU day fic, all these stories take place in the same timeline (universe???) as my drabble collection "darling so it goes"


End file.
